Kos Once Again Attacks Kerry By Misquoting His Position On Iraq

Kos has frequently attacked John Kerry by misquoting his position and then attacking the position he falsely attributes to Kerry (similar to the tactics used by Karl Rove). Today he writes, “I can’t find the cite now, but I’ve read how Rove exhulted after Kerry said, at the Grand Canyon, that knowing what he knew then, he still would have invaded Iraq.”

Except that this is not what John Kerry said.Rove swift boated Kerry at the Grand Canyon by misquoting what he said. I understand why Rove did this–but why is Kos also spreading this false claim?

Kerry did not say “knowing what he knew then, he still would have invaded Iraq.”

What Kerry actually said is that he would have still voted to give Bush the authority to use force as a last resort–but also stressed he would have used this authority more effectivley, and not to go to war. Kerry repeatedly said he would have used the authority to seek a diplomatic settlement, and to force the inspectors back into Iraq. (Kerry later admitted he was wrong on the vote when the Downing Street Memos proved Bush was lying about his claims at the time of the IWR that he would use the authority to seek a diplomatic solution rather than to go to war).

It has long been a Rove tactic to divide the opposition in this matter. By spreading the false claims that Kerry supported going to war, Kos is just helping the Bush administration cover for their dishonesty and divide the opposition.

A few old posts, with multiple quotes of what Kerry really said about Iraq, are below the fold.

(more…)

A Reminder of Why Lieberman Should Go, Beyond Over Iraq

The pundits, especially from the right, claim that the Connecticut primary was purely about Iraq. Here’s a reminder of one of several other issues that mattered. First there’s this video of Joe Lieberman saying he would have used the power of government to keep the feeding tube in Terri Schiavo despite the wishes of her husband. Terri Schiavo’s husband campaigned for Ned Lamont. Lieberman’s belief that he can use government to impose his religious views on others is also seen in his support for hospitals which deny the “morning after pill” for rape victims.

Government Laptop Stolen With Personal Information of 133,000 People

A government laptop was stolen, compromising the personal information of thousands. Sounds like old news, but this is a new story in today’s Washington Post. This time it is a laptop from the Transportation Department in Florida.

The laptop, assigned to a special agent in the Miami office, was stolen from a government vehicle on July 27 in Doral, Fla., Zinser told Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) today in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

The computer contains the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and addresses of 42,792 Florida residents who hold a pilot’s license; 80,667 people in the Miami-Dade County area who hold commercial driver’s licenses; 9,496 people who took personal driver’s license tests or obtained their license from an examining facility near Tampa, the letter said.

I find these reports ironic in light of the HIPPA regulations of the last few years. Those are the rules which result in every doctor or other health care provider having to give you those privacy notices, along with a number of more obnoxious regulations. It looks like before the government got so worried about people’s privacy beilng violated by the medical profession they should have paid a little more attention to their own practices.

Democrats in Majority on National Security

Wesley Clark has some comments on what is wrong with Lieberman’s policies:

You see, despite what Joe Lieberman believes, invading Iraq and diverting our attention away from Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is not being strong on national security. Blind allegiance to George W. Bush and his failed “stay the course” strategy is not being strong on national security. And no, Senator Lieberman, no matter how you demonize your opponents, there is no “antisecurity wing” of the Democratic Party.

It seems that a majority of Americans are coming around, and that Lamonts victory is not a victory for the left over the center as conservative pundits claim. A new CNN poll shows that 60% of Americans oppose the war. A majority want to leave by the end of the year and 57% percent support timelines for withdrawal.That would make Lamont the candidate of the center and Lieberman the candidate with the out of the mainstream position.

Rove Offers Help to Joe Looserman

Lieberman kiss

George Stephanopoulos reports that Karl Rove has offered assistance to Joe Lieberman:

According to a close Lieberman adviser, the President’s political guru, Karl Rove, has reached out to the Lieberman camp with a message straight from the Oval Office: “The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do.”

Perhaps Bush will kiss him on the lips next time?

More Distancing Themselves From Mel Gibson

There’s more signs that people are distancing themselves from Mel Gibson after his recent anti-Semitic tirade. Disney and ABC previously cancelled plans to air his planned miniseries on the Holocaust but planned to continue to distribute his movie Apocalypto. Now there are reports that Disney is looking for a new distributor for Gibson’s latest movie. Out in California, Tom McClintock, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor plans to stop using a fund-raising letter written by Gibson.

I’ll repost my earlier stories on Mel Gibson, including those which were found objectionable for criticizing Gibson at The Democratic Daily, plus a round-up of comments from around the blogosphere, under the fold. (more…)

Kerry Supports Lamont

John Kerry, among several other Democrats, have announced their support for Ned Lamont as winner of the Democratic primary. Following is John Kerry’s statement:

“After an intense and competitive primary season, Connecticut Democrats have chosen their nominee and they’ve made a strong statement about the current course in Iraq which is failing our troops. I strongly support Ned Lamont for the United States Senate.

“I’ve worked with Joe Lieberman since our days in college together, and I respect his many contributions to our public life. But the Democratic Party stands for something, and the Democratic Party in Connecticut has made a choice. That choice will matter in November to the direction of our Party and the direction of our country. The events of the past months make even more clear the differences Democratic leadership would make for our country on Iraq, in making America safer, in having an economy that works for everyone, and in achieving energy independence. That’s who we are as Democrats, and that’s what we’ll be fighting for. It’s time for all Democrats to come together to support Ned Lamont. It’s time for Democrats to unite.”

Update: More, with background information at The Democratic Daily

Bush Administration Protects Self From Prosecution

The Washington Post reports that the Bush Administration is making changes to the War Crimes Act which sounds like they are printing up their own “Get Out Of Jail Free” cards:

The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments.

Officials say the amendments would alter a U.S. law passed in the mid-1990s that criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions, a set of international treaties governing military conduct in wartime. The conventions generally bar the cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment of wartime prisoners without spelling out what all those terms mean.

I wonder if they will find ways to decriminalize even more of their activities.

Posted in George Bush, Iraq. 2 Comments »

Lamont Beats Lieberman in Round I

Lamont beat Lieberman, but unfortunately we have a Round II to look forward to, which will be an unwanted distraction from the real battle this fall for Democrats to attempt to take control of Congress. Hopefully Lieberman’s support will fall further as a consequence of losing the primary, and Lamont’s support will increase. If this battle continues, it will also provide further ammunition for conservatives. Conservatives will claim this is all about Iraq and a sign that Democrats are out of the mainstream, but a majority now oppose Bush’s policies in Iraq. This is also over far issues beyond Iraq, including party loyalty, toleration for dissent, and separation of church and state.

Conservatives will claim this is a sign that the far left has taken over the party, and Democrats no longer show toleration of the center. This criticism would more appropriately apply to them. Republicans normally approve of contesting centrists candidates–as long as they are Republicans being challenged by conservatives. They approved when Ronald Reagan ran against Gerald Ford, and a moderate Republican Congressman in Michigan faced a similar challenge from the right today. Republicans frequently write off other Republicans as RINO’s, and they are history in the party if they refuse to sign Grover Norquist’s pledge not to raise taxes.

They will even continue to raise charges of anti-Semitism as the reason Lieberman is opposed, even though well before the primary a poll of Connecticut Jews found them supporting Lamont over Lieberman by 50% to 41%. I’m in the company of many Jewish bloggers in preferring Lamont over Lieberman including Matt Stoller, Lindsay Beyerstein, Ezra Klein, Glenn Greenwald, Matthew Yglesias, Max Sawicky, and David Sirota. Josh Marshall has remained neutral with some posts defending Lamont, and Atrios supports Lamont while one side of his family is Jewish.

A Lieberman backer tried to use the anti-Semitism card just before the primary in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately the author provides some examples of liberal anti-Semitism from comments around the liberal blogosphere. While this exists, it is a minority position on the left. There are far more Mel Gibson’s on the right than the left (even if I was surprised by the defense of Mel Gibson which precipitated my departure from my previous blog).

It is notable that such a view was expressed by a Lieberman supporter on the editorial page of such a major publication of the right wing noise machine. Similarly Joe Lieberman announced his plans to run as an independent on Fox News the day before the primary. Real Democrats don’t run as an independent against the winner of the Democratic primary, and generally don’t announce anything on Fox News.